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91-461: The RTA has seen mixed reception throughout the NASCAR landscape; particularly for its influence in creating the charter system and the system's consequences within NASCAR. In recent years, while the system has received praise from some drivers and larger race teams for providing teams with needed tangible assets, the system has also seen mounting criticism from other smaller, independent teams who claim that

182-402: A NASCAR race team and that only chartered teams should enter races. NASCAR later implemented a rule reserving their right to repossess charters belonging to teams finishing in the bottom three of owner points for three seasons in a row at NASCAR's discretion; although, as of 2023, no teams have lost a charter that way. Teams may also possess no more than four charters per NASCAR's four car limit in

273-654: A consortium called Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS) in 2004 and the series was renamed the Champ Car Open Wheel Racing Series, later renaming it to the Champ Car World Series . However, the sanctioning body continued to be plagued by financial difficulties, In 2007, CCWS's presenting sponsors Bridgestone and Ford Motor Company withdrew. During this time, the IRL was now operating under the moniker IndyCar Series, and slowly beginning to establish itself as

364-526: A modern IndyCar is more physically exerting to drive than a modern Formula One car but that the Formula One car was more mentally taxing due to all its additional complexity, horsepower, and downforce levels compared to the IndyCar as well as the need to manage fuel levels given that Formula One cars do not refuel during the race while IndyCar racing allows refueling during races. The American National Championship

455-545: A new safety rule that barred drivers from racing back to the start/finish line when under caution. After assuming control of NASCAR, France negotiated a title sponsorship from Sprint Nextel and introduced the Chase for the Sprint Cup over the transition period, receiving a $ 4.5 billion television contract for the initial ten race seasons, in addition to a later multibillion-dollar deal with NBC. France also made an effort to expand

546-584: A private investment firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina. France founded Brand Sense Partners, a Los Angeles -based licensing company. He and his wife are the founders of the Amy and Brian France Foundation, and the Luke and Meadow Foundation, a philanthropic cause that focuses on children. Brian France implemented a wide variety of policies and mandates that tended to focus heavily on driver safety (largely in response to

637-464: A result, films began advertising at NASCAR events, and NASCAR drivers began to feature in various forms of media. In 1995, Brian France helped to create the Craftsman Truck Series . In 2000, he became NASCAR's executive vice president. France became NASCAR's CEO and chairman of the board in 2003, after his father retired from the position. One of France's first actions as CEO was to create

728-478: A road or street course the Formula One car would be significantly faster than an IndyCar. There is debate on which series is more demanding. Some point out that champions that retired from F1 have won CART championships: e.g., Emerson Fittipaldi and Nigel Mansell. Drivers who did not excel in F1 have continued their careers in IndyCar with varying levels of success. Some successful IndyCar drivers have tried but failed to get

819-484: A seat in even a low level Formula One team. A handful of notable IndyCar drivers, however, found subsequent success in F1, including Mario Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve, who became Formula One champions, and Juan Pablo Montoya, who won several F1 races. Conversely, some point to the different track designs of IndyCar (see below) as a bigger challenge to the drivers. Former Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean stated in 2021 that

910-431: A somewhat older age who had gotten used to Bill France Jr.'s style of management, were not in favor of these rule changes; this caused NASCAR's ratings to drop significantly throughout the early to mid-2010s. In March 2020 Brian France sued John L. Steele, an internet user behind the parody Twitter account "Drunken Brian France" (@DrunkBrianF), for "infliction of emotional distress" and invasion of privacy. In April 2020

1001-434: Is an American businessman and the former CEO and chairman of NASCAR . He served in the post from 2003 to 2018, following his grandfather (and NASCAR co-founder) Bill France Sr. and father Bill Jr. , in the executive position. In 2019, France founded Silver Falcon Capital, Inc. and became CEO of the private investing firm. France was exposed to the business of stock car racing from a young age. His first job in racing

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1092-590: Is cutting our own throats". NASCAR's president at the time, Mike Helton , later released a press statement on behalf of NASCAR in July 2014, declaring that the RTA did not pose a threat to NASCAR. Helton later reaffirmed this position in February 2015, stating that while NASCAR preferred to talk to each owner individually, he had "respect for what the owners do through their business models". Driver Tony Stewart gave comments of praise to

1183-505: Is notable for the wide variety of racetracks it has used compared to other series, such as Formula One and the various forms of Endurance sports car racing . The mainstays of the championship are as follows: Until 1970 the championship frequently raced on dirt and clay tracks, but all such tracks were removed permanently by USAC before the 1971 season. From 1915 to 1931 board tracks were frequently used for championship races, however safety concerns and cost of maintenance, especially with

1274-399: Is sanctioned by IndyCar . Competitive events for professional-level, open-wheel race cars have been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies, tracing its roots as far back as 1902. A season-long, points-based, National Championship of drivers has been officially recognized in 1905, 1916, and each year since 1920 (except for a hiatus during WWII ). As such, for many years,

1365-476: The 1955 Indianapolis 500 , and the 1955 Le Mans disaster . Through 1922 and again from 1930 to 1937, it was commonplace for the cars to be two-seaters, as opposed to the aforementioned standard single-seat form. The driver would be accompanied by a riding mechanic (or "mechanician" ). The national championship was taken over by the United States Auto Club (USAC), a new sanctioning body formed by

1456-523: The 2016 Daytona 500 . When Germain Racing sold its charter and announced that it would be closing in 2020, the driver at the time, Ty Dillon , stated that he believed that the charter system had made it difficult for single-car teams who had not been "at the top level of the sport or [had] an incredible amount of money to leapfrog into the top spot". Another owner that shut down his team in the same year, Leavine Family Racing 's Bob Leavine, stated that he blamed

1547-538: The Indy 500 ) has taken over as the preferred moniker. Apropos to that, when CART was founded in 1979, its acronym stood for Championship Auto Racing Teams , a reflection of the historical use of the term "Championship Car". From its onset, CART started marketed itself with the two-word "Indy Car" term, advertising itself as the "CART Indy Car World Series". Through the mid-1990s, the term "Indy car" referred to machines used to compete in events sanctioned by CART , as well as

1638-497: The "100 Most Influential of the Century." During the 2016 presidential campaign, NASCAR pulled its Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series award ceremonies from a Trump resort near Miami. Later, on February 29, 2016, France and several NASCAR drivers appeared at a rally to endorse Donald Trump's candidacy. In August 2018, France took an "indefinite leave of absence" from his role as CEO and chairman of NASCAR. On August 5, France

1729-437: The 1960s, drivers and team owners with road racing backgrounds, both American and foreign, began creeping into the series and the paved oval track cars evolved from front-engine " roadsters " to rear-engine formula-style racers . Technology, speed, and expense climbed at a rapid rate. The schedule continued to be dominated by oval tracks, but a few road course races were added to assuage the newcomers. Dirt tracks were dropped from

1820-638: The 1970s, the IndyCars were ready to fill the void. IndyCar was a combination road- and oval-racing championship from this time until the Split. Compared to F1 cars, IndyCars were partly specialized for oval-racing: they were larger and had other safety features, and were designed to run at the higher speeds necessary for oval racing. Because IndyCars were usually "customer" cars that the teams purchased from constructors, and because of rules to contain costs, they were considerably less expensive than F1 cars, each model of which

1911-642: The 1980s–1990s under the sanctioning of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). Organizational disputes in 1979 and 1996 split participants and the fanbase among two separate sanctioning bodies. The sport was re-unified in 2008 , and in late 2019, IndyCar was bought by Roger Penske and Penske Entertainment . The national championship was sanctioned by the Contest Board of the American Automobile Association (AAA). The AAA first sanctioned automobile motorsports events in 1902. At first it used

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2002-482: The 1990s and early 2000s, international expansion reached overseas with events at Surfer's Paradise , Rio de Janeiro , Motegi , Lausitz , and Rockingham . Towards the end of its run, Champ Car ran races at European tracks such as TT Circuit Assen and Zolder Circuit , intentionally scheduled in regions and dates that would not compete with Formula One. In 2011 IndyCar revived the Astor Cup, first awarded in 1915 as

2093-534: The CART championship quickly became the more prestigious national championship. USAC ran a "rump" 1979 season, with few big name drivers — the only exception being A. J. Foyt . In 1979, USAC denied several of the entries from the CART teams at the 1979 Indianapolis 500 . The controversy saw a court injunction during the month, which allowed the CART-affiliated entrants to participate. In 1980 USAC and CART jointly formed

2184-462: The CART races and USAC-sanctioned Indy 500 were the same, with only relatively minor rules differences. The Indy 500 field would consist of the CART regulars, and numerous one-off ("Indy only") entries. On occasion, some of the "Indy only" entries also elected to participate in the Michigan 500 and Pocono 500 (both sanctioned by CART) given the increased stature and exposure of those two events. One of

2275-629: The Championship Racing League (CRL) to jointly run the national championship, but IMS management disliked the idea. USAC pulled out of the CRL arrangement in July. CART continued with the schedule for the remainder of the season. Both CART and USAC awarded separate national championship titles that year, and Johnny Rutherford happened to win both. In 1981–1982, the Indianapolis 500 remained sanctioned by USAC. The preeminent national championship

2366-485: The Cup Series. In January 2018, Sports Business Journal ' s Adam Stern reported that the RTA and NASCAR were collaborating on creating an esports league on iRacing , an online racing simulation video game. By the end of the year, the esports league was officially announced; although, the league took place on NASCAR Heat 3 . Within 2018, the RTA also appointed Jonathan Marshall to run the organization. In October 2019,

2457-601: The Indianapolis 500 would be the final race of the respective season. However, between the 1984–85 season and the 1994–95 season (its final season), the USAC Gold Crown Championship only had one points-paying race: the Indianapolis 500 . As a result, during that timespan, the winner of the Indy 500 would win that year's USAC Gold Crown Championship by default. In 1994, Tony Hulman 's grandson, Tony George , president of

2548-484: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway (the trademark owner) over the use of the moniker. Eventually a settlement was reached in which CART gave up use of the name, but the IRL in turn could not use it until 2003. CART rebranded themselves with the CART name, and began referring to their machines as Champ Cars. CART's existing national championship remained dominant after the split for some time, initially retaining

2639-467: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, founded the Indy Racing League (IRL), to begin competition in 1996. It would exist as a separate championship, and leveraged the fame of the Indianapolis 500, which was placed as its centerpiece. After the IRL announced that 25 teams that competed in IRL races would get automatic qualifications to the race, making it impossible for the majority of the CART field to make

2730-793: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while in Europe, racing from point to point and around large circuits gained in popularity. Grand Prix racing (which became Formula One ) and rallying then diverged in Europe. Formula One was established after World War II as the World Championship for road racing, and F1 cars became increasingly specialized and high-tech. In the 1960s, road racing gained popularity in North America, and Formula One-style design ideas changed IndyCars, which until then had all been classic-styled front-engined roadsters. When North America's road racing championship, Can-Am Challenge , collapsed in

2821-459: The NASCAR Cup Series field was limited to 40 cars and a team owner's council was formed. Teams also had the opportunity to sell or lease their charters. Three days later, Wood Brothers Racing left the organization as they did not receive a charter. In later years, in response to open teams entering races, Kauffman defended the charter system, claiming that part-time teams devalued the worth of

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2912-463: The National Championship . The term "Big Cars" saw some limited use; a term that identified the machines as larger and faster than junior formulae such as sprints and midgets . That term disappeared from use and was instead largely used for Sprint cars . However, some promoters continued to advertise their championship events with the term "Big Cars", which leads to some inconsistencies. In

3003-418: The RTA expanded to include every full-time team with the exception of Furniture Row Racing . By 2015, Kauffman declared that his objectives were "overplayed", instead comparing the RTA to being in "kind of in the background and there's not much to talk about" despite possibilities of the RTA negotiating with NASCAR for increased financial aid. Within the same year, the RTA also partnered with DraftKings and Rev

3094-538: The RTA purchased Speed51 , a motorsport news site that primarily covers short track races. The acquisition saw mixed reception; in an analysis from reporters from fellow motorsports news site Frontstretch , some thought the purchase could expand the marketing potential of NASCAR teams, while others thought it would suppress opinions that NASCAR teams did not agree with. In 2021, the RTA rebranded Speed51 to become Racing America , along with promises of expanded content from NASCAR teams on Racing America . In October 2022,

3185-412: The RTA stunting NASCAR's growth. Three days after the organization was announced, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) founder Bruton Smith heavily criticized both the organization and its founder Rob Kauffman , stating that NASCAR had already been supporting the teams sufficiently, declaring that he did not "know anything about it that's good for what we do. I don't see anything that's going to be good for

3276-403: The RTA was "chasing something that I'm not sure we're chasing", believing its existence was not "the healthiest thing for the sport". The RTA during its formation saw defense from longtime NASCAR personality and team owner Richard Petty , whose team was in the RTA. In interviews, Petty claimed that the RTA only wanted to spur the growth of NASCAR, claiming that "anything we do to tear NASCAR down

3367-403: The RTA went public with their thoughts on equitable revenue distribution within NASCAR, declaring that they thought current economic model that NASCAR was using had "little to no chance of long-term stability". Under the economic model, the $ 8.2 billion, 10-year media deal signed in 2015 allotted 65% of the deal to tracks, 25% to teams, and 10% to NASCAR. The RTA declared that while they would honor

3458-419: The RTA's willingness to collaborate with NASCAR in an interview in July 2015. The charter system has drawn both praise and criticism from various personalities in NASCAR, with the system itself becoming a highly polarizing topic. Current NASCAR president Steve Phelps has praised the system, stating that NASCAR was "all-in" on the system and that the system was "valuable to the sport overall" despite also saying

3549-425: The U.S. government primarily on account of rationing . Racing resumed in full in 1946. The 1946 season is unique, in that it included six Champ Car events, and 71 " Big Car " races, as organizers were initially unsure about the availability of cars and participation. AAA ceased participation in auto racing at the end of the 1955 season. It cited a series of high-profile fatal accidents, namely Bill Vukovich during

3640-566: The U.S. took place in 1967 at Mosport and Saint-Jovite in Canada . In 1971 , the USAC season-opening race was held at Rafaela . In the autumn of 1978, two races were held in England , the first at Silverstone , then a week later at Brands Hatch . Beginning in the mid-1980s, CART expanded throughout North America , venturing into Mexico ( Mexico City ) and Canada ( Sanair , Toronto and Vancouver ). In

3731-574: The United States during WWI , but the official national championship was suspended. The Indianapolis 500 itself was voluntarily suspended for 1917–1918 due to the war. In 1920, the championship officially resumed, and despite the difficult economic climate that would later follow, ran continuously throughout the Depression . Shortly after Pearl Harbor , all auto racing was suspended during World War II. From 1942 to 1945 no events were contested, banned by

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3822-451: The Vote to expand marketing deals. By July, Kauffman stated that negotiations with NASCAR had "gone very well so far", praising an uptick in communication between the two organizations. In 2015, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick stated that negotiations with NASCAR to "create some sort of permanent value for the teams" were occurring in response to a phenomenon where if a team shut down,

3913-412: The audience base of NASCAR to minorities, and allowed Toyota vehicles to begin competing on the NASCAR circuit. During France's tenure as CEO, NASCAR's TV ratings peaked in the mid-2000s, but by 2014, they had dropped, accompanied by a 15% decrease in track attendance. Sporting News named France one of the five most powerful sports executives in 2005, and, in 2006, Time magazine named him one of

4004-529: The category of racing was known as Championship car racing (or Champ car racing for short). That name has fallen from use, and the term Indy car racing (derived from the Indy 500 ) has become the preferred moniker. The machines, typically referred to as "Indy cars", are a formula of single-seat, open cockpit , open-wheel , purpose-built race cars. They compete on a variety of circuits, including ovals , road courses , street circuits , and combined road courses . The most famous and most important event of

4095-436: The charter system along with the pandemic as reasons for shutting down, while also stating that he did not get enough from selling his charter than what Leavine put into it. The guaranteed entries for chartered teams also raised comparisons to Indy Racing League's controversial "25/8 rule" for the 1996 Indianapolis 500 by The Indianapolis Star 's Curt Cavin. Brian France Brian Zachary France (born August 2, 1962)

4186-546: The course, however, they lead back to streets for the rest of the lap. For the majority of the national championship, the races have been held inside the United States. American championship cars raced at the Monza oval in 1957 and 1958 alongside Formula One and sports cars in the non-championship Race of Two Worlds . Also, in 1966 there was a non-championship USAC race at Fuji Speedway in Japan. The first championship events outside

4277-412: The current deal, in the next media deal that was to be made in 2024, they demanded more revenue to "cover baseline costs". The next month, the RTA stated that they were exploring the idea of holding exhibition events that were not sanctioned by NASCAR in response to "struggling to turn a profit... thus forcing them to investigate other sources of revenue". Despite a clause in the current deal prohibiting it,

4368-456: The current system was not profitable to teams that had a charter. The system has also seen praise from multiple beat reporters; when the system was first announced, The Evening Tribune 's Ryan Papaserge defended it, stating that the implementation of it was "NASCAR adapting to the 21st century", defending how owners could have more freedom negotiating with sponsors or NASCAR leadership. In 2023, Sportcasting 's John Moriello declared that removing

4459-519: The death of Dale Earnhardt ) and equal opportunity for virtually all drivers to contend. Some of the rules implemented included mandation of the HANS device for all drivers, installation of SAFER barriers around the outside walls of each track (eventually, the inside walls of each track as well), as well as the 'yellow line rule' at superspeedways (which states that no driver may advance their position if they noticeably place at least their left side tires below

4550-470: The decades after World War II . The " Golden Era " of the front-engined roadsters was followed by a decade of innovation and transition in the 1960s. By the late-1960s and early-1970s, the cars had rapidly evolved to rear-engined , formula-style machines. Speeds climbed on the superspeedways to over 200 miles per hour (320 km/h), while international participation also increased. The sport saw much success, exposure, and popularity particularly during

4641-399: The exploration of the idea led to fears of a potential split similar to American open-wheel car racing between Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and the Indy Racing League (IRL) that occurred in the late 1990s. By April 2023, the RTA and its members were boycotting quarterly meetings with NASCAR, stating further displeasure with the revenue sharing system. However, by the next month,

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4732-629: The fall of 1977. A few months later, eight key USAC officials were killed in a plane crash . By the end of 1978, the owners had broken away and founded Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) to wrest control of Championship racing away from USAC. Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was formed by most of the existing team owners, with some initial assistance from the SCCA (in order to be recognized by ACCUS ). Therefore, there were two national championships run each by USAC and CART. The Indianapolis 500 remained under USAC sanction. The top teams allied to CART, and

4823-598: The focus was changed to the Australian Supercars Championship in 2010. Some of the other races from the Champ Car schedule were dropped or put on hiatus for a few seasons. All historical record and property of CART/CCWS was assumed by the IRL. Randy Bernard was announced as the new IRL CEO in February 2010. In 2011, the sanctioning body dropped the Indy Racing League name, becoming IndyCar to reflect

4914-414: The initial announcement, the RTA had nine teams, with the RTA being formed to negotiate with NASCAR to increase the value and cut costs on behalf of NASCAR teams. Immediately afterwards, the organization came under scrutiny from NASCAR businessmen, including Bruton Smith and Brian France , who found it to be unnecessary and thought that NASCAR was sufficiently supporting them regardless. However, by August,

5005-424: The inside yellow line surrounding the track), and the 'overtime line' rule, which was a designated area of the track where if a caution were to be thrown at any time within the closing two laps and the leader had passed through the area, but had not yet crossed the official start/finish line, the race would end and a winner would be declared (this was removed after the 2017 NASCAR season). Many fans, especially those of

5096-492: The lawsuit was withdrawn after Steele agreed to delete the account. The lawsuit has been cited as an example of an SLAPP lawsuit . American open-wheel car racing American open-wheel car racing , generally known as Indy car racing , or more formally Indianapolis car racing , is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States . As of 2024 , the top-level American open-wheel racing championship

5187-454: The machines competing in the Indianapolis 500 (sanctioned singly by USAC ). In 1992, the CamelCase term "IndyCar" was trademarked by IMS, Inc. It was licensed to CART from 1992 through 1996. After the inception of the Indy Racing League in 1996, the terms of the contract were voided after a lawsuit. As part of the settlement, the term was shelved by a six-year non-use agreement. Following

5278-426: The marketing power of the Indy 500 name for their events, even though the Champ Car series they were promoting no longer had any ties to that race. The exceptions created confusion, and Champ Car gradually phased out the usage to distance itself further from the IRL. After the settlement expired in 2003, the term IndyCar was brought back. The Indy Racing League was re-branded as the "IRL IndyCar Series". The machines in

5369-663: The merged series. The new Dallara DW12 racecar was introduced for the 2012 season. Bernard was replaced by Mark Miles in 2012. The series operated under the name IZOD IndyCar Series from 2010 to 2013, then became known as the Verizon IndyCar Series from 2014 to 2018, and the NTT IndyCar Series since 2019. In 2020, the IndyCar Series, as well as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and other holdings,

5460-406: The modern Dallara DW12 spec car used in the IndyCar Series sits in between a Formula 2 and a Formula One car on road and street courses in terms of performance. Both Ilott and Lundgaard have stated that the IndyCar's lack of power steering combined with the lower downforce levels and roughly 100 horsepower advantage make the IndyCar harder to drive than a Formula 2 car. Both noted however that around

5551-447: The more noticeable rule differences by USAC was allowing " stock block " engines a higher level of turbocharger boost. While most full-time CART-based teams utilized their V-8 quadcam engines at Indy, some of the smaller and "Indy only" teams elected to run stock block engines at Indy, attracted by the boost rules. USAC's Gold Crown Championship continued, settling into an unusual June through May schedule calendar. This provided that

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5642-565: The more preeminent national championship trail. In 2005, the IRL added road/street courses, and began picking up several former CART venues. And in 2007, Champ Car raced in Europe for the first time since 2003, with races in The Netherlands and Belgium and a planned round in Spain in 2008 before the unification. Prior to the start of the 2008 season, the CCWS Board authorized bankruptcy and Champ Car

5733-429: The national championship after 1970. During the 1970s, the increasing costs began to drive some of the traditional USAC car owners out of the sport. The dominant teams became Penske, Patrick, Gurney, and McLaren, all run by people with road racing backgrounds. There was a growing dissent between these teams and USAC management. Events outside Indianapolis were suffering from low attendance, and poor promotion. The Indy 500

5824-635: The onset of the Great Depression , and nearly all were demolished in the 1930s. The Pikes Peak Hillclimb was a round of the championship in the years 1947—1955 and 1965–1969. In 1909 a point-to-point race from Los Angeles to Phoenix was included in the championship. Airport runways have also been used to create temporary circuits. The most notable used for open-wheel racing was the Cleveland Grand Prix at Burke Lakefront Airport . St. Pete and Edmonton also utilize airport runways for parts of

5915-560: The other at different times. But for the foreseeable future, F1 cars will have considerably more power than the spec IndyCar. Alex Zanardi , who drove both in F1 and CART, said that the lighter, naturally aspirated F1 car was more responsive and accelerated off the turns faster, while the turbocharged CART car was more stable and accelerated to top speed faster. More recently Formula 2 drivers Callum Ilott and Christian Lundgaard , who are both also test and reserve drivers for Alpine F1 and Scuderia Ferrari respectively, have stated that

6006-399: The owners would most likely go into debt as they could not sell off their equipment for their proper worth. By December, the RTA and NASCAR COO Brent Dewar were "cautiously optimistic" that a franchising deal that would guarantee an unspecified number of starting spots per race along with some of the television revenue from media rights deals would be made. The next month, Kauffman reported that

6097-488: The post- World War II era, the term "Speedway Cars" saw limited use; a loosely descriptive term, distinguishing the machines as those driven at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and other major speedways , as opposed to those driven at smaller tracks, for instance. Nevertheless, the term "Championship/Champ Cars" prevailed as the preferred moniker. In most years since the USAC era, the term "Indy cars" (after

6188-405: The race, CART teams boycotted the 1996 Indy 500. It was the beginning of the second open-wheel "split". Initially, USAC sanctioned the IRL, however after officiating controversies in 1997 at Indianapolis and Texas , the USAC was replaced by the IRL's in-house officiating. CART, which had been licensing the trademarked "IndyCar" name for several seasons, subsequently entered into a legal battle with

6279-666: The rules of the Automobile Club of America (ACA), but it formed its own rules in 1903. It introduced the first track season championship for racing cars in 1905 . Barney Oldfield was the first champion. No official season championship was recognized from 1906 to 1915, however, many races were held. Official records regard 1916 as the next contested championship season. Years later, retroactive titles were named back to 1902. These post factum seasons (1902–1904, 1906–1915, and 1917–1919) are considered unofficial and revisionist history by accredited historians. Racing did not cease in

6370-557: The season is the Indianapolis 500 , held on Memorial Day weekend in late May. Over the decades, Indy cars have been generally similar to those in Formula One , though there are important differences. Though the IndyCar Series is U.S.-based, international races have occasionally been held; in such places as Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Australia, as well as Europe. This form of racing experienced considerable growth and popularity in

6461-576: The series championship trophy. A black granite base has been added displaying the names of all the American Championship car racing series winners since 1909. The 1916, 1936 and 1937 Vanderbilt Cup races were included in the national championship. The 1909–1915 races were retrospectively added to the championship in 1926. CART resurrected the Cup in 1996 as the winner's trophy for the US500 race. When that race

6552-437: The series were also referred to as "Indy cars". Despite the official acknowledgment, media and fans alike would continue to use the term "IRL" to describe the series, and to a lesser extent, "IRL cars" to describe the machines. Removing the "IRL" term from use proved difficult. With two series ( IndyCar and Champ Car ) still competing parallel, the umbrella terms "Open Wheel Cars" and "Open Wheel Racing" saw increased use during

6643-512: The settlement, and the lack of connection to the Indy 500 , CART decided to revert to the former term. It re-assumed the name CART , and the machines would be referred to again as "Champ cars". This continued after CART was reorganized into CCWS . Complicating the situation resulting from the open-wheel split, CART/Champ Car races held outside the United States were still permitted to use the Indy moniker (e.g., Molson Indy Toronto and Lexmark Indy 300 ). Foreign venue promoters took advantage of

6734-422: The split and post-split era. Many drivers had logged starts in both series at one time or another during their careers. The term was used as a way to combine a driver's career accomplishments without being series/machine specific. It also served to link the lineage of events, teams, drivers, etc., even as they switched sanctioning bodies. In 2008, when Champ Car World Series was merged into the Indy Racing League,

6825-433: The sport. Nothing." Ten days later, the organization saw further criticism from then-NASCAR CEO Brian France , with him declaring that listening to one combined organization instead of hearing organizations separately "would probably be the worst thing we could ever do", calling the organization "unnecessary". In 2018, in statements given on NASCAR Race Hub , former NASCAR crew chief Larry McReynolds stated his belief that

6916-469: The system drives out smaller teams, stunting the growth of smaller teams while also favoring larger teams. The organization has also seen criticism from NASCAR businessmen, including Brian France and Bruton Smith , deeming the organization as unnecessary. On July 7, 2014, the Race Team Alliance (RTA) was officially announced by then- Michael Waltrip Racing stakeholder Rob Kauffman . At the time of

7007-437: The system would "diminish the value of teams faster than cryptocurrencies can devour a retirement nest egg", repelling potential investors. Criticism of the charter system has come from various groups; particularly from smaller, single-car teams. After the system was implemented in 2016, Mike Hillman and his team, Hillman-Circle Sport , criticized the implementation of the system, which was officially implemented one week before

7098-432: The team, despite being one of the most successful, had not made a profit within the last decade. In October, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports , who declined to sign the 2025 charter agreement, filed a lawsuit against NASCAR on antitrust grounds regarding the charter system. Immediately after the organization was formed, it faced criticism from leaders and businessmen within the NASCAR landscape; particularly to fears of

7189-465: The teams backtracked and requested "meaningful dialog", wanting permanent charters instead of requiring charter renewal along with previously stated economic concerns. Part-stakeholder in 23XI Racing , Denny Hamlin , declared that making charters permanent would protect investors and give "security" to their investments to a team. By February 2024, the RTA hired an antitrust lawyer, along with Hendrick Motorsports ' vice chairman Jeff Gordon claiming that

7280-782: The term "Champ Car" was permanently retired. The unified racing series fell under the "IndyCar" name, and the machines would be known as "Indy cars". On January 1, 2011, the names "Indy Racing League" and "IRL" were officially retired. The sanction body was re-branded as INDYCAR LLC , and the premier touring series was named the IndyCar Series (currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons). At first, American and European open-wheel racing were not distinct disciplines. Races on both continents were mostly point-to-point races, and large ovals tracks emerged on both continents. But in America, racing took off at horse-race tracks and at

7371-417: The then-owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway , Tony Hulman . Championship racing continued to grow in popularity in a stabilized environment for over two decades, with the two traditional disciplines of paved oval tracks and dirt oval tracks. During the 1950s, front-engined "roadsters" became the dominant cars on the paved oval tracks, while "upright" Champ Dirt Cars continued to dominate on dirt tracks. In

7462-422: The top drivers, teams, and sponsors. However, in 2000, CART teams began to return to the Indy 500, eventually defecting permanently to the IRL. For 2003, it lost title sponsor FedEx and engine providers Honda and Toyota to the IRL. After steadily losing teams and drivers, sponsors, and manufacturers, and after a series of major financial setbacks, CART filed for bankruptcy in 2003. The assets were purchased by

7553-412: The two sides were nearing an official deal. On February 9, 2016, a week before the 2016 Daytona 500 , the RTA and NASCAR announced the implementation of the charter system, which sought to cut costs and increase profits for teams. With the system, a 36 charters were allotted to teams; this would guarantee them a starting spot in every race along with increased purse money for chartered teams. In addition,

7644-555: Was absorbed into the IRL, creating a unified series for the national championship for the first time since 1978. The unified series competed under the name IndyCar Series . The two calendars were merged into one schedule, with the top Champ Car races such as Long Beach (which was a CCWS-sanctioned event with IRL points before being an official round of the IRL in 2009), Edmonton and Surfers Paradise in Australia surviving, later being replaced with an A1GP event in 2009 that never happened before

7735-567: Was as a janitor at the Talladega Superspeedway . France studied at the University of Central Florida but joined NASCAR before earning a degree. France managed several short tracks, including Tucson Raceway Park in Arizona in the earlier years of his career. In the 1990s, he ran NASCAR's Los Angeles office and helped create associations between NASCAR and the entertainment industry. As

7826-417: Was designed by the team that used it. After the Split in the 1990s, CART maintained the old formula while the IRL drifted toward the "spec" design that has been the only IndyCar model since 2003 (which changed in 2012, with specialized aero kits available from 2015 to 2017). As engine formulas have changed, and as engine technology has developed over time, F1 cars and IndyCars have each produced more power than

7917-475: Was now the one being sanctioned by CART. The Indy 500 field would consist largely of CART teams, as well as numerous independent, "Indy-only" teams. Indianapolis was not included as a points-paying round of the CART national championship. In addition, by that time USAC had designated Indianapolis an "invitational" race, offering entries only to invited teams. That moved in part to prevent the uproar over denied entries which occurred in 1979. One further race in 1981

8008-482: Was pulled over in Sag Harbor, New York , for driving through a stop sign and subsequently arrested for DUI and possession of oxycodone . France later pleaded guilty to one count misdemeanor DUI on June 7, 2019. His leave of absence officially ended in February 2019 when interim head of NASCAR, Jim France , permanently took over as CEO and chairman. In 2019, France founded and became CEO of Silver Falcon Capital, Inc.,

8099-445: Was run by USAC at Pocono . This race was not supported by many CART teams, and featured a mixed field filled out by converted dirt track cars. USAC soon stopped sanctioning championship races outside the Indianapolis 500. Stability returned and the national championship was now run by CART full-time. The Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned singly by USAC, but points were paid towards the CART season championship. The cars and engines used in

8190-486: Was sold to Penske Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of the Penske Corporation , owned by Roger Penske . The race cars participating in national championship events have been referred to by various names. Early nomenclature was to call the machines "Championship Cars", which was later shortened to "Champ Cars". This was a simple, yet descriptive term, which positively identified the machines as those that competed for

8281-429: Was televised on a same day tape delayed basis on ABC, however, most of the other races had little or no coverage on television. Towards the end of the decade, the growing dissent prompted several car owners to consider creating a new sanctioning body to conduct the races. Meanwhile, two events had a concomitant effect on the situation. Tony Hulman , president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and founder of USAC, died in

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